WAR WEAPONS WEEK 1941

1941

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Description

This is a film made by Chapeltown dentist Willie Thorne of a War Weapons Week held at in Chapeltown, a village on the outskirts of Sheffield, this film was made by a local dentist who filmed other such activities in the village throughout World War Two.

Title - Chapeltown war weapon week 7th to 14th July 1941.

Title - Aim £36,000 A flight of night fighters.

Title - Achieved £105,000 three flights of night fighters.

Title - well done.

Title - Chapeltown & district war weapons week 7th to 14th
£36,000 help to provide flight of night fighters. Beat Bombers with bonds! Save now! Note: This looks like a flier/poster which might have been used to advertise the event.

The opening sequence in this film depicts soldiers operating an artillery gun (most probably anti-aircraft gun); they practice aiming and moving the canon in quick efficient movements. The filmmaker cuts, the soldiers now practice combat manoeuvres in the field; taking cover and advancing across the terrain.

Following this there is a long section which shows a procession marching down a street in Chapletown. Soldiers march past the camera followed by a brass band, boy scouts, brownies, and vehicles which include fire trucks, mobile first aid units and a convoy of supply vehicles. The filmmaker then cuts to show a mobile post office parked in the middle of the road.

The procession then moves on through various different streets and the filmmaker captures the different marchers as they travel past the large crowd who have gathered in the town square. The march then ends, and from a raised position, the filmmaker captures various shots of the disbanding civilian spectators, who on occasion wave at the camera.

The action then cuts to a park, where a crowd has gathered by a stage and officials make speeches into a microphone. During this sequence the filmmaker captures various shots of the crowd. A banner is then unveiled and it reads, 'Our weapons week. The aim £36,000. Total to date £20,000.' The final sequence shows a mixed gender game of cricket, which is performed in front of a good sized crowd, a game of bowls and a darts completion, which again both men and women participate in.

Title - Keep it up.

Title - The end.

Context

A readiness to do whatever is needed, and a certain nonchalance, is evident in these service personnel as they march to raise money, looking confident in their ultimate victory.

Nearly two years into the war, and still much looks ad hoc and improvised on this fundraising parade for weapons through the streets of Chapeltown in South Yorkshire in 1941. Vans get commandeered to help in firefighting and first aid, while the squaddies, marching with a certain swagger, look distinctly shorter than the policemen marching with them. And afterwards, the women try their hands at cricket and darts.

This film is one of several made by a local dentist, Willie Thorne, of activities in Chapeltown during the war. Before the US entered the war, and still with the threat of invasion, War Weapon Weeks was a way to encourage people to save in War Bonds and similar Government schemes to help re-arm. Chapeltown was close to Sheffield’s munitions production, and to Newton Chambers, which produced 1,160 Churchill tanks during the war. It had an anti-aircraft gun site situated to protect these targets from Luftwaffe attacks. Most of the local men worked in coal mining, a reserved occupation, while many women worked in the munitions factories in Sheffield. The town also took in refugees from the London Blitz.